Being a long time Macross/Robotech/Japanese Toy fan I have always wanted Destroids that are in scale to the Valkyrie fighters seen all over the Macross series and Movie but we have only gotten smaller more diminutive version of Destroids in toy form over the years.

Well enter Yamato's newer 1/60 line of Macross collectibles. With two Valkyrie's released as of this article Yamato has decided to tackle the need for more than the transformable jet and have launched a line of 1/60 scale Destroids.

A Destroid for those that do not know is a non-transforming mecha that generally provides ground support and heavy weapons in Macross. The Tomahawk was probably the most prevalent of all the non-transforming mecha and my personal favorite of the Destroid designs.

So when I got my hands on it I really didn't know what to expect. Yamato traditionally has been hit and miss with their Quality Control in the past. With the high level of quality the first couple of new Valkyries have had I guess I was half expecting a dud this time around but I am happy to report that is not the case.

The Tomahawk comes in the standard Yamato windows box but is much smaller than other releases in the Macross line being half the size of the newer 1/60 Valkyries in the line. Inside the box is the Tomahawk, sticker sheet, pilot figure and two ground crew members.

Yep it's got a pair of nicely detailed ground crew figures in addition to the pilot. A nice touch on Yamato's part and makes me wonder if we are going to end up with a full assorted crew when all the Destroids get released.

The Tomahawk itself doesn't disappoint. While it has very little in the way of diecast metal content, it has a very solid toy-like feel with lots of clicky joints and a very nice high-quality plastic.

It is very poseable and the inner mechanisms for the feet and hip joints are all metal. Doesn't feel like anything is going to break here; well, you might want to watch out for the teeny, tiny antenna next to the head but other than that, it's all good.

Detail on the mecha is very good. While many complain that not all the detail is tampo printed on – the major permanent markings are indeed printed on and all are clean and neat. The application is flawless, no over/under spray anywhere.

All the other major markings like unit numbers are left off for you to put on using the included sticker sheet, leaving it wide open as to what unit number and markings you give it. Something the customizers will love I am sure.

The one big complaint I have is the waist joint which moves the top half forward and back is a bit floppy. It holds all the appropriate poses just fine but does seem a bit loose. Feels like Yamato needs to add something to adjust the tension.

The cockpit/head opens to accommodate the pilot and the shoulder and chest missile pods do open to display the missiles. Sadly they do not fire, a feature Yamato should really think about adding. This thing would rock with "shoot-your-eye-out-goodness"!

Finally, in the manual they make a very specific point of showing you that the different parts of the Destroid are modular and come off. Makes me think they plan on designing these so collectors can mix and match different parts to make new designs.

I really like this Tomahawk and I will be picking the rest of the series as it comes out. Being a Macross/Robotech fan it's nice to finally have a line of decent collectibles that are all in the same scale to each other.

I look forward to adding more new Destroids as they are released and if your a Macross fan you should too. You can get yours at Angolz.com where I got mine and be sure to check out the video as JoshB and I check out the Destroid Tomahawk together.

...it's for simulating what happens to every Destroid on the show EVER. "Destroid" is something of a grim pun...

I'm almost hoping that they go off into MSV land with these guys--inventing completely new types of Destroids that never were in the show. (The Miyatake Macross Design Works already depicts an alternate Tomahawk, for example.) Maybe a "mobile command post" Destroid? "Ammo Resupply" Destroid? Heck, I might try to gin something up myself. I always did think that the Big D's got something of a raw deal in the series...

Heck, they might just junk the original Gladiator design and go with a new concept based on this leg platform.

I like it, only real complaint is it looks out of place near 1/48s, of course not in scale with them. I just have to find a way to rearrange the collection to give it the wow factor it deserves. Also that D7 is a bitch to apply they should have made it a single sticker with a cut-your-own as an option for those that want to customize with different letter & number combo.

I really hope they don't include "shoot-your-eye-out-goodness" anytime some. For me it's one of the differences between a toy and a model. Plus those spring things always break.

"The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds, and the pessimist fears this to be true." - James Branch Cabell 1926.

Fair enough guys. The only reason I consider it a model is the price range and how easy it would be to break. With the exception of this guy most of the Yamato Macross stuff is fiddly to transformer at best even the pros suffer breakages. "You say tomato, I say tomato, we all say Yamato..." mmm... that expression doesn't really work when typed?!? Maybe it's one of those "I collect comics", "I collect graphic novels" kind of things.

"The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds, and the pessimist fears this to be true." - James Branch Cabell 1926.

I prepaid Angolz for this and the Lancer CM's Ride Armor back in August and have not received any shipping notice, nor have they responded to any of my inquiries. Is there anyone here that has a more direct line to them who can assist me?

The Bandai/TT toys are 1/55 scale, and the chunkiness of them makes them appear to be even bigger.

Side by side it might appear a little odd since you are comparing a modern toy that is sculpted with proportion and display in mind to a toy that was designed to look good but take a beating while being played with over 25 years ago.

You might want to track down the old Matchbox/Exo-Force toy instead. It's cheaper, pretty easy to find, the same scale, and chunky like the Valk since it's nearly as old. It's also very much a "toy" instead of a collectible.